Engineering Student Arrested For Facebook Post

A 19-year-old Engineering student Abhishek Mishra, a resident of Chhatarpur, Madhya Pradesh was detained on 11th November and then arrested on 12th November by Bhopal police for his social media post on demonetization and for attacking Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP).

The Police seized his laptop, cellphone, dongle and other electronic gadgets. They accessed his account and deleted the controversial post. Police also registered an FIR under Section 469 of Indian Penal Code (IPC). He was booked under Section 66C of Information Technology Act, 2000 at the cyber cell.

Abhishek Mishra calls himself an RTI Activist and a video maker. He has been a critic of the saffron brigade and is dedicated to spreading awareness amongst people. He has 16,000 followers on social media. His post criticising Shivraj Singh Chouhan and BJP was read by someone at the Madhya Pradesh CM’s house and the police and cyber cell were informed, as reported by The Hindustan Times.

Abhishek’s lawyer said that after demonetization, a newspaper published news that police had confiscated money from a BJP leader’s car in Hoshangabad district. Abhishek had shared the story and posted the picture of Shivraj Singh Chouhan with it, which prompted his arrest.

High-handedness of the government and the party supporters are purely the results of anarchy that is being practised across the state, where free speech and expression can land a person in prison. Social media today has become the mouthpiece of expressions and opinion, and no matter which government stays in power, it has to face criticism, and it has to answer tough questions. Examples of better government can only be set by proving its worth to the critics, not by curbing the freedom of the citizens. It’s high time to prioritize rationality over blind followership.